Woodford trust is boosted by millions

Neil Woodford's £809m Woodford Patient Capital investment trust will gain between £25m and £35m from its holding in a US biotech business.

In a statement released to the market this morning (12 June), Woodford Investment Management stated the trust has an investment in Autolus Therapeutics Limited, a US biotechnology company that will soon list on the stock market via an initial public offering (IPO).

Woodford Investment Management said the valuation of the company was based on the share price at the IPO stage versus the valuation the investment has been given in the accounts of the Patient Capital trust.

Patient Capital is the investment trust run by Mr Woodford to invest in early stage quoted and unquoted companies, and has a particular focus on the biotechnology sector.

The trust has underperformed the sector since launch, though Mr Woodford has repeatedly said the performance of the underlying investments is strong.

Rob Morgan, pensions and investment analyst at Charles Stanley Direct, said: "The venture capital approach of this trust is an interesting way to access innovative earlier-stage businesses.

"The closed-ended nature of an investment trust offers liquidity, making it easier to buy and sell your investment – something it is difficult to do if you invest direct in early stage companies.

"However, these types of investments mean a very high level of risk and results will often take time.

"When the trust was launched there was a great deal of investor excitement but it has been a rocky road since then."

But he added the present struggles of the trust could prove to be a good entry point for those that believe Mr Woodford's assertion that the trust has stakes in several companies that could be worth billions of dollars each in the future.